Day 1 - Thursday 15 October, 2026

All times are in China Standard Time (CST, UTC+8)
8:40 a.m. WELCOME REMARKS 
  Session Chairs:
Heathcliff Dorado Garcia, Nature Cancer
Qing Zhong, Shanghai Jiaotong University
9:00 a.m. Keynote Talk
The Dance of Proteins and DNA in Nucleotide Excision Repair
Wei Yang, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA
Session I: Frontiers in Genome Maintenance Mechanisms  
10:00 a.m. Role of PARG in DNA repair and genome maintenance
Mitsuko Masutani, Nagasaki University, Japan
10:25 a.m. COFFEE BREAK
10:45 a.m. Humanizing Yeast Origin Recognition Complex for the Study of Human Diseases
Bik Tye, Cornell University, USA
11:10 a.m. The genomic outcomes of DNA breakage and chromosome fragmentation
Cheng-Zhong Zhang, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, USA
11:35 a.m. A homologous recombination repair trap drives synthetic lethality
René Medema, Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, The Netherlands 
12:00 p.m. Short Talk
A Noncanonical Role of MutLα in Replication Fork Stability and Cancer Therapy
Xueying Li, Chinese Institute for Cancer Research, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing
12:15 p.m. Session Panel
12:30 p.m. LUNCH
Session II: Targeting DNA Replication and Repair Vulnerabilities
  Session Chairs:
Gabrielle Brewer, Nature Reviews Cancer
Cheng-Zhong Zhang, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School
1:45 p.m. G Quadruplex–driven rewiring of homologous recombination modulates BRCAness
Philipp Oberdoerffer, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
2:10 p.m. Replication Fork Stability and Cancer
Ting Liu, Zhejiang University, China
2:35 p.m. Adventures with the PARPi, rucaparib: Back and forth between bench and bedside
Nicola Curtin, Newcastle University, UK
3:00 p.m. Short Talk
FANCM restrains structural genome evolution and creates a synthetic lethal vulnerability in BRCA1-deficient breast cancer
Arvind Panday, Mayo Clinic
3:15 p.m. Session Panel
3:30 p.m. COFFEE BREAK
Session III: DDR Defects and Synthetic Lethality 
  Session Chairs:
Safia Danovi, Nature
Philipp Oberdoerffer, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
4:00 p.m. SPOTting cell plasticity change in action
Xin Lu, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, UK
4:25 p.m. BRCAness Regulation by OFD1 and Centrosomal Cytoskeleton Dynamics
Qing Zhong, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China
4:50 p.m. Targeting homologous recombination defective cancers
Christopher Lord, The Institute of Cancer Research, UK
5:15 p.m. Session Panel
5:30 p.m. Short Talk
Zinc Finger Proteins as Guardians of Genome Stability — Disease and Therapeutic Implications
Thomas Clarke, Boston University Chobanian and Avedesian School of Medicine
5:45 p.m. Short Talk
Beyond Repeat Expansion: Exploring the Mechanisms of WRN Synthetic Lethality in Microsatellite-Unstable Cancers
Wei Wu, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 
6:00 p.m. Short Talk
Intercellular DNA transfer mediated by migrasomes propagates genome instability
Lin Deng, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory
6:15 p.m. End of day

Day 2 - Friday 16 October, 2026

All times are in China Standard Time (CST, UTC+8)
  Session Chairs:
Gabrielle Brewer, Nature Reviews Cancer
Elaine Sanij, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
9:00 a.m. Keynote Talk
Innate Immune Sensing of Extrachromosomal DNA in Cancer
Zhijian ‘James’ Chen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA
Session IV: Genomic Instability and Innate Immune Signaling
10:00 a.m. A novel R-loop Binding Site in cGAS Balances Genome Surveillance and Immune Activation 
Li Lan, Duke University, USA
10:25 a.m. COFFEE BREAK
10:55 a.m. STING–TRPV2 Interplay: A Signaling Link Between Genome Maintenance, Calcium Dynamics, and Innate Immunity
Zhongsheng You, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China
11:20 a.m. DNAJA2 in genomic stability and innate immunity: more than a molecular chaperone
Yaping Huang, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China
11:45 a.m. Session Panel
12:00 p.m. Short Talk
Three-dimension DNA assembly functions as potent and TREX1-resistant cGAS agonist
Hailin Wang, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
12:15 p.m. Short Talk
A Human-Biased FXR–TRIM22–STAT1 Proteostatic Checkpoint Limits Radiation-Induced Antitumor Immunity
Min Deng, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences 
12:30 p.m. LUNCH
Session V: DDR-targeted Combination Therapy
  Session Chairs:
Kathryn McGinnis, Nature Progress Oncology
Yaping Huang, CIMR
1:45 p.m. Targeting CHK1 in POLE-Mutant Colorectal Cancer: Synthetic Lethality and Enhanced PD-1 Blockade
Feng Wang, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, China
2:10 p.m. Molecular Classification for Precision Management in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Zhihua Liu, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China
2:35 p.m. The Opioid Growth Factor (OGF)-OGFR Pathway Suppresses Homologous Recombination (HR) by Inhibiting RAD51 
Zhenkun Lou, Mayo Clinic, USA
3:00 p.m. Session Panel
3:15 p.m. Poster Session & COFFEE BREAK
4:15 p.m. A GAPDH–RPL13A translational checkpoint drives DNA repair failure after colorectal cancer surgery
Huashan Liu, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China
4:40 p.m. Short Talk
Adaptive Recovery from Ascites-associated Osmotic Stress Reprograms the  Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment and Potentiates Cancer Immunotherapy
Youwei Zhang, Jinan University
4:55 p.m. Short Talk
DDB2 Resolves Post Irradiation Transcription-Replication Conflicts to Determine Normal Tissue Sparing by FLASH Radiotherapy
Youhang Li, Soochow University
5:10 p.m. Short Talk
Clinically relevant ATR inhibition selectively disrupts joint molecule resolution in homology-directed DNA repair
SHUNICHI TAKEDA, Shenzhen University
5:25 p.m. Meet-the-Editor Session
6:00 p.m. End of day

Day 3 - Saturday 17 October, 2026

All times are in China Standard Time (CST, UTC+8)
Session VI: Resistance Mechanisms Associated with DDR Deficiency
  Session Chairs:
Paraskevi Mallini, Nature Communications
Li Lan, Duke University
9:00 a.m. Repairing broken chromosomes: Mechanistic insights from AlphaFold and cryo-EM
Stephen West, The Francis Crick Institute, UK
9:25 a.m. Metabolic mediated DNA Repair Contributes to the Chemosensitivity in Cancer
Jian Yuan, School of Medicine, Tongji University, China
9:50 a.m. Functional characterisation of nucleolar stress responses and rDNA genome stability
Elaine Sanij, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Australia
10:15 a.m. COFFEE BREAK
10:45 a.m. Challenges and Opportunities in PARP-Based Cancer Therapy
Shan Zha, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, USA
11:10 a.m. Panel Session
 
11:25 a.m. Short Talk
WRNIP1 phase separation safeguards chromosome segregation and promotes tumor immune evasion
Yijie Wang, Shandong Normal University
11:35 a.m. Short Talk
Enhanced DNA damage repair and genotoxic resistance in the axolotl
Ziyu Rong, Chinese Institute for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing
11:45 a.m. Short Talk
Redial 9-1-1 for replication stress: new insight into RAD9-HUS1-RAD1 (9-1-1) clamp complex
Min Huang, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shenzhen University Medical School
11:55 a.m. Short Talk
Targeting Replication Fork Vulnerabilities with CX-5461 to Overcome PARP Inhibitor Resistance in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Ruofei Liu, St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research
12:15 p.m. CLOSING REMARKS
Preliminary program – subject to change. Last updated: Oct 8, 2026.

Times are displayed in CST